Although I only needed to complete one race at the St. Nick’s Dixie Zone Short Course Meters Championships this past weekend, I was determined to win the Georgia Championship Series for my (50-54) age group with an exclamation point. That’s just me; do it right or go home.

In my case, the only way I would have gone home early was if my bad hip wouldn’t have allowed me to complete the 10 races I had signed up to race. Fortunately, Dr. Andrachuk wrote me a medical note to give the chief official, so I wouldn’t get a DQ for not being able to kick breaststroke. Instead, I had to use an easy dolphin kick and basically let my legs drag behind me. Of course, eliminating the frog kick slows the stroke down to tadpole speed rather than frog speed, so I had a huge disadvantage in my 400 Meter Individual Medley Relay race. I lost a full minute having to pull my way through the breaststroke during the 100 meter leg of that race. As slow as it was, though, I completed it without getting disqualified, and the Georgia Championship Series was in the bag; signed, sealed, and delivered, it was MINE.

The remainder of the day was a blast! I managed to clock my worst times ever in the 100 Freestyle, 100 Butterfly, 100 Backstroke, and 400 Freestyle, but I sure had fun doing it! It felt so much better being horizontal in the pool rather than vertical on land. What a relief it was to get in and swim each time, even if I had to drag my right leg along for the ride as practically dead weight!

Sunday was a tougher race line-up for me: 1500 Freestyle, 100 Individual Medley back-to-back with the 200 Butterfly, and 50 Butterfly back-to-back with the 200 Freestyle.

Once I completed the 200 Butterfly, I was over the hump with my no-DQ race record intact! Not being able to kick butterfly, I wasn’t sure how long my shoulders would hold up, but I did it! It may have taken five minutes to do it, but I DID IT!!

By no means am I the fastest swimmer in my age group, especially now with my bad hip. There are other swimmers so much faster than me that it would be completely unrealistic to think I could ever by fast enough to beat them, even if I trained much harder than I already do.

That’s why I strive to win the Georgia Championship Series; it gives us slower gals and guys something to shoot for each year. Competing at all four meets doesn’t guarantee a win, but to have a fighting chance, it’s a must. It’s also advantageous to sign up for the maximum amount of races allowed at each meet to get as many points as possible. Two of the gals I beat for the series are not only faster than me; they are Top 10 swimmers IN THE WORLD. They didn’t compete in the open water meet though, so I gained 10 points (of a maximum 40 for the series) on them by competing in the 3K and 1K at the Georgia Games Open Water Meet.

Their goals are loftier than mine; they are racing national and world rankings. I’m not fast enough for that, so I thoroughly enjoy training and competing in the four different strokes and all of the distances. It also kills me to miss a meet, because I miss out on all the fun!

Today was my last swim of the year, and I enjoyed it with gusto (including a hefty dose of butterfly). Tomorrow, I undergo hip arthroscopy. My 2-1/2 weeks out of the pool will be my longest dry streak in more than four years, and I’m hating the idea of that!

My three-year Georgia Championship Series winning streak comes to an end due to being forced out of next year’s early meets, but I’ll be back in 2016!

Meanwhile, congratulations to my buddy Mark Rogers for winning the series in his age group. It’s been a fun year at the meets with you, Mark! Keep your streak going in 2015, buddy!